Do you want to broaden your knowledge base in order to keep growing in your job or to even get a new one?  Or do you want to learn a new skill for a hobby or to start a part-time business?

One way to do this is to go back to school and get a formal education in the topic.  You’ll get a degree or certificate (if that is important to you), but there is often a large time and money commitment to doing this.

If you don’t care about the degree, there are several free (or low-cost) and easy ways to become an expert on any topic:

1. Read one book on the topic each month.  If you like to underline and mark-up books, you can buy them and build your own personal library on the topic.  Or if you’re looking for a free option, just borrow the books from your public library.
2. Study the topic for half an hour a day.  You can probably find the information you need online for free.
3. Listen to podcasts on the topic each week.  There’s a podcast for just about any topic and most of them are free.  You can listen during transit (bike, car, bus, train, plane), while exercising, or just about anywhere.
4. Get hands-on training by volunteering.  Unless you want to become a surgeon, there’s probably a way you can learn a new skill by volunteering with a local charity.  For example, if you want to learn home building and improvement skills, you can volunteer with a home-building charity like Habitat for Humanity.

A few hours a week, over a few months, will add up quickly and you’ll soon gain the skills and information you need to be successful in that field.

Do you have any other ideas of ways to become an expert?  Please share your thoughts.

We live in such an information-rich culture today.  We have access to unprecedented amounts of news and information – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, through TV, the Internet, books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

Despite this, I’ve heard it said that there is a growing Information Divide between those who have ready access to information and those who do not.

I think I understand the point, but I’d like to suggest an even greater problem in our world.  It’s what I call the Application Divide.

Here’s my point:  If just having access to the right information was key to a person’s success in life, then librarians would be among the most successful, and probably richest, people on earth, wouldn’t they?  But they’re not.

Why not?  Because it is not enough to know the right information.   You have to know what to do with the information…and then do it.  That’s application!

A few months ago I realized I had a lot of information in a particular subject, but was doing nothing with that information.  I wasn’t applying it at all, and so the information made no difference in my life – or anyone else’s.

So I made time to brainstorm possible actions I could take, and the outcomes they would produce.  Then I picked one course of action, made a plan, and am taking steps to do something with that information.

What about you?  Are you sitting on information that, if you applied it, could make a difference in your life or someone else’s?  If so, why not take some action today?  Let me know how it goes…or how I can help.

Suggested Resource: